A little local power goes a long way

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Anything that gives locals a say over their environment is preferable to developers and architects dictating cityscapes

How can the country’s overwhelming need for new housing be balanced with the
Government’s desire to give people more control over their neighbourhoods?
This is the problem facing Grant Shapps, the Housing Minister.

The scale of the first dilemma is clear.

Mr Shapps’s favourite statistic when in Opposition was that housebuilding is
at its lowest since 1924. This is now his problem, exacerbated by the savage
cuts inflicted on his departmental budget. The waiting list for social
housing in England alone contains 4.5 million names, according to the
National Housing Federation (NHF). It estimates that one million children
now live